One Pillar Pagoda

Location

- Chua Mot Cot, Doi Can, Ba Dinh, Ha Noi

Opening hours

- Monday – Sunday: Entrance is free and the pagoda is open daily from 08:00-17:00

Stories behind the name

-The One Pillar Pagoda (Vietnamese: Chùa Một Cột)

History

- Built by Emperor Lý Thái Tông between the years of 1028 and1054

- The king dreamed that he met the bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara who handed him a baby son while seated on a lotus flower. He later on had a son so he constructed the temple to express his gratitude for this in 1049

Features

- It is regarded alongside the Perfume Temple, as one of Vietnam's two most iconic temples

- The pagoda is often used as a symbol for Hanoi

- The temple is designed to resemble a lotus blossom, which is a Buddhist symbol of purity, since a lotus blossoms in a muddy pond

- The shrine inside the pagoda is dedicated to the Vietnamese Buddhist deity Quan Am

- In 1954, the French Union forces destroyed the pagoda before withdrawing from Vietnam after the First Indochina War, it was rebuilt afterwards

- A Bo tree that grows behind the pagoda which legend state is an offshoot of the one under which Buddha became enlightened - the tree was given as a gift from India in 1958

- Praying at The One Pillar Pagoda is said to bring about blessings of fertility and health

What can we do nearby

- Visit Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum, museum

- Sit and relax in the surrounding gardens and enjoy refreshments available at a stand nearby

There are some notices

Photo gallery